Outside of former House Speaker Michael Madigan, the main characters in the “ComEd Four” bribery conspiracy trial are hardly household names. So who, exactly, are the “ComEd Four?”
One was Madigan’s loyal confidant. Another was ComEd’s popular chief executive. There’s a consummate lobbyist and a political consultant who was the face of the City Club of Chicago.But the secretive Madigan, the Chicago Democrat who served a national record 36 years as speaker, not only knew them all, he allegedly knew how they could take care of each other in Illinois’ special brand of insider politics.Lobbyist Mike McClain, center, at the State Capitol in Springfield on May 25, 2012.
McClain and Madigan rose together among Democratic ranks in the Illinois House. Madigan, the protege of the all-powerful Richard J. Daley, would get the mayor’s calls and deliver orders to Chicago lawmakers in the Illinois House, rising first to House Democratic Majority Leader. It reflected Tribune reports that McClain called Madigan “friend” or “Himself” when sending secret fundraising requests to close allies also known euphemistically as the “most trusted of the trusted.”McClain allegedly admitted he referred to Madigan as “our friend” in conversations and over email because he “never knows who’s listening.”Anne Pramaggiore, president and CEO of ComEd, in Chicago on Jan. 16, 2013.
When she became CEO of ComEd in 2012, Pramaggiore inherited a massive utility that had been struggling in the late 2000s, with aging infrastructure prone to widespread power outages and growing dissatisfaction from its 3.8 million customers. Prosecutors said they expect Fidel Marquez, the former ComEd senior vice president who has pleaded guilty in the case, to testify that Pramaggiore “did not want anyone from ComEd to anger Madigan.”
Two of Hooker’s dependents — a daughter from his first marriage and a stepson from another marriage — managed to secure $21,000 worth of tuition waivers from lawmakers under the since-ended legislative scholarship program, which was long beset by charges of nepotism, favoritism and political abuse. Prosecutors said Hooker and McClain also were caught on tape allegedly talking about how they created a back-channel payment system that allowed ComEd to funnel money through a third party, who would distribute payments to Madigan allies for doing little-or-no work.
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‘ComEd Four’ Heading to Trial Over Alleged Scheme to Bribe Michael MadiganThe trial of the “ComEd Four” — ex-CEO Anne Pramaggiore, ex-ComEd lobbyist Mike McClain, retired ComEd executive John Hooker and ex-City Club of Chicago president and former ComEd consultant Jay Doherty — will begin this week.
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‘ComEd Four’ bribery trial to put focus on ex-Speaker Madigan’s power, state’s blurry line between politics and crimeOn Tuesday Jay Doherty, Anne Pramaggiore, Michael McClain and John Hooker will be defendants at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse in one of the biggest political corruption cases the state has ever seen.
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